At 11 a.m., NYC Public Advocate and Democratic mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio will call for further reform and transparency of the Council’s discretionary funding system following the arrests of Sen. Malcolm Smith and Councilman Dan Halloran. City Hall steps, Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m. and at the same location, Fair Elections for New York; Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York; Lawrence Norden, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice keep up the drumbeat for campaign finance reform.

There will be a community forum on campaign finance reform hosted by Fair Elections for New York at 5:30 p.m. at the SEIU Building, 310 West 43rd St., Manhattan. Panelists include Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network conference is taking place in New York City at the Sheraton Times Square. Both NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and AG Eric Schneiderman are speaking today.

Headlines…

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara delivered a particularly damning appraisal of New York’s political culture, saying corruption is “downright pervasive” in the state.

“Putting dirty politicians in prison may be necessary, but is not sufficient. And the dream of honest government cannot come to pass unless there is real change in the culture,” the U.S. attorney said. “It’s time for others to step up and do more.”

Smith, Halloran, Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino, Queens GOP Vice Chair Vince Tabone and two Spring Valley lawmakers others were arrested in predawn raids on a slew of federal conspiracy and bribery charges that could send them to prison for up to 45 years.

The Clarkstown Town Board fired Savino, who handles the town’s tax certioraris, hours after he was arrested. Questions have dogged Savino since he was hired by the board in a controversial 4-1 vote on Jan. 3, 2012, at a salary of $87,000.

Attorneys for all six arrested in this scandal said that their clients deny the charges against them.

In a statement, Smith’s spokesman said he would be “vindicated when the all the facts in the case are revealed.” Smith is charged with conspiring to extort in violation of the Hobbs Act, as well as wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The DN characterizes Halloran as the “greedy Gordon Gekko” of the scheme to buy Smith’s way onto the GOP line.

Sources tell the NY Post Halloran was struggling with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and recovering from a painful divorce.

GOP NYC mayoral contender George McDonald recalls meeting with the party’s five chairs and coming away convinced they were looking for a candidate “with a big pile of money.”

““They all needed money,” McDonald said, “and it was more about what they needed than it was about the best interest of the Republican Party.”

One “prominent” black leader in NYC on Smith’s arrest: “It’s amazing that of all the dumb things he’s done…this is what he goes down for. Are you so delusional that you’re giving bribes when no one one but you thought you had a chance?”

NYC Councilman Eric Ulrich, a frequent critic of the Queens GOP, said John Catsimatidis should end his campaign for mayor due to his ties to Tabone, whom the billionaire supermarket mogul has suspended from his campaign and private business.

Catsimatidis said he’s been cooperating with the federal government for the past several months, and insisted his handling of Tabone showed “good judgement.”

In a long history of crooked New York pols, Juan Gonzalez deems the effort to buy a GOP ballot line for a Democratic senator “the dumbest, most delusional scheme ever concocted.”

Fred Dicker to Cuomo and the legislative leaders: Sorry, but you “have to do a whole lot more than pass a few on-time budgets and an updated version of the ethics law to prove that Albany is more than an ethics cesspool where almost everything is up for sale.”

Cuomo called the charges against Smith “very, very troubling,” and IDC leader Jeff Klein said the senator should consider resigning altogether.

With Smith’s arrest, three of the four most recent majority leaders have later faced serious federal corruption charges.

The TU says Smith is “Exhibit A” in the argument for campaign finance reform.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to deny a motion to dismiss a drugged-driving case against Cuomo’s ex-wife, Kerry Kennedy.

NBC and Cuomo announced today that “America’s Got Talent” is moving from New Jersey to Radio City Music Hall — thanks to the new Jimmy Fallon tax credit in the budget.

““Today’s announcement is further proof that New York is becoming the place to go for the film and television industry, creating new jobs for New Yorkers and spurring economic activity across the state,” Cuomo said in a statement released shortly after 7 a.m.

“We have the resources, the talented workforce, and the best venues, including the iconic Radio City Music Hall, which will be sure to inspire the contestants of ‘America’s Got Talent’ – and all the visitors who flock to see it.”

While in Buffalo yesterday, Cuomo used a hockey puck as a special memento during his ceremonial budget siging. “Why? Three budgets in a row, hat trick. The Sabres will tell you that,” he said.

Cuomo called the 2013-14 budget a “love document,” but not everyone is in love with the results.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wasn’t invited to attend Cuomo’s ceremonial budget signing in Oswego this morning. The governor’s office says no Syracuse officials were asked to be on hand.

Cuomo warned he is “very serious” about locating a new casino in Niagara Falls, while also acknowledging he is ramping up pressure on the Seneca Nation of Indians to settle its dispute with the state.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Chris Gibson on 2014 talk: “While the Congressman is clearly flattered that his name has been mentioned as a candidate for Governor, his focus remains on serving the residents of the 19th District.”

Education officials will cut the ribbon on 78 new city schools in September, bringing the number of public schools opened during the Bloomberg administration to 656 — a record for any New York mayor.

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